Drafts

If only I can (I actually can, but choose not to) publish those I wrote in tissue papers, back of receipts, random notebooks and piling up drafts.

Mind Ramble (Rumble)

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and if you know me, it doesn't stop there, it leads to a lot of things. Questioning, doubting, over-thinking and at times, hasty decision making. It takes a WHOLE LOT of balls and determination to be completely honest with ourselves because at that point, we become vulnerable to our greatest fears and regrets. However, it is the ONLY way to brave what's out there, waiting for us, waiting to be discovered. 

I have always believed that discretion is valor. I've never liked showing my cards, sharing my thoughts and doing what is expected of me. I see it as a sign of weakness when others know so much about you. If they know, they expect. I do not want to live just to meet others' expectations. But that is completely impossible. We all live to please someone somehow. No matter how we convince ourselves that what we are doing is for ourselves and us alone at the end of the day, we seek approval, we seek validation.

At this point in my life, I can say that I am happy and content as compared to the quarter-life-crisis-struck me a year ago. But I want more. All the options are in front of me, I just need to choose. And the thinking I've been doing is not helping.

Mind, tune down. 

Doing what I should have done 5 years ago: (Really, really) Getting my shit together. 

He Shoots Film I

He doesn't know it but I am his biggest fan and his photos always leaves me floored. Yes, these photos were taken using an old school film camera. The tediousness of it all.

Call to Arms

“Step Away from the mean girl and say bye-bye to feeling bad about your looks. Are you ready to stop colluding with a culture that makes so many of us feel physically inadequate? Say goodbye to your inner critic, and take this pledge to be kinder to yourself and others.

This is a call to arms.

A call to be gentle, to be forgiving, to be generous with yourself. The next time you look into the mirror, try to let go of the story line that says you're too fat or too sallow, too ashy or too old, your eyes are too small or your nose too big; just look into the mirror and see your face. When the criticism drops away, what you will see then is just you, without judgment, and that is the first step toward transforming your experience of the world.”

- Oprah

Sea Creatures

Hello, we're creatures of the sea.

7

It's been 7 years and somehow, sometimes, I still wake up beside him and be completely in awe of how it all happened, of how it all fell into place. I still stare and at times, see a stranger and be overwhelmed of the excitement brought about by the unknown. And I like it because 7 years ago I feared and hesitated due to the possibility of over familiarity. 7 years ago there was still reluctance as I am one who easily craves for something new, for something more. 7 years, and I have been constantly proven wrong.

Happy 7th anniversary, Mahal!


Taken in Pundaquit, Zambales by our favorite photographer, Mark Cantalejo. Part of our post-nup shoot.

You Are Already That

"Do you know what you are? You are a manuscript of a divine letter. You are a mirror reflecting a noble face. This universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself, everything that you want, you are already that." - Rumi

This is a raw photograph straight from Mark Cantalejo's film camera Part of our post-nuptial shoot in Capones Island.

Drowned Bewilderment

"When anxious, uneasy, I go to the sea. The sea drowns them out with the great wide sounds. It cleanses me with its beautiful noise and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused." - Rainer Maria Kilke

Photographed by the husband.

Potipot, Zambales.

Run the Risk

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can’t live without. If you don’t start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who’ll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I’m not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you’ll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven’t lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven’t tried, you haven’t lived."

Surprise Yourself

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." - Neil Gaiman

February and I already did ♥